BATON ROUGE, La. — The One Stop Homeless Services Center, a new state-of-the-art housing and services facility designed to end homelessness in Baton Rouge, officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony today at the facility on North 17th Street.

The Center is an innovative approach to providing a full range of “Continuum of Care” support services to Baton Rouge’s homeless and those at-risk of becoming homeless, incorporating 36 units of permanent supportive housing within the facility’s campus.

One Stop will provide 36 units of permanent supportive housing and will also bring support services on-site to support independent living for the formerly homeless residents. Residents will have access to medical care, a pharmacy, case management, mental health screening, legal aid, employment assistance and vocational training.

The project is a collaborative effort between the Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless, the Society of Saint Vince de Paul of Baton Rouge and non-profit developer Gulf Coast Housing Partnership. It is supported by Baton Rouge’s “Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness”, a strategy adopted by the City of Baton Rouge and the Parish of East Baton Rouge.

The $8.4 million center was built with public and private funding from the Louisiana Office of Community Development –Disaster Recovery Unit, the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority, Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas, Community Housing Capital and Whitney National Bank.

Support for programs, services and project development was provided by the Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation, East Baton Rouge Mortgage Finance Authority, Credit Bureau of Baton Rouge, E.J. & Marjory B. Ourso Foundation, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation and the Wal-Mart Foundation State Giving Fund.

The Disaster Recovery Unit within the Office of Community Development is dedicated to helping Louisiana's citizens recover from hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike. As the state's central point for hurricane recovery, the OCD-DRU manages the most extensive rebuilding effort in American history, working closely with local, state and federal partners to ensure that Louisiana recovers safer and stronger than before.